With the advancements of browsers like IE9, Firefox and Chrome, it’s a wonder why anyone still uses IE6 and IE7. Sure, businesses have the excuse of “all of our software only works with IE6” or “it’s too expensive to switch”. When in the end, it’s really going to cost them more money in productivity and problems with compatibility. Nevertheless, Microsoft has been pushing IE9 lately and some new numbers are in. At the end of April, IE9 saw a 9.95% market share for users on Windows 7, which averaged out to be 7.5% for the entire month of April, which is over double the March average of 3.6%.
Doubling a market share in only a month is pretty amazing. Perhaps it’s because they partnered with eBay to offer discounts and bonuses for users who download IE9 and use it with eBay.
Luckily IE6 and IE7 saw a drop in 0.7% usage, making everyone happy in the long run. Many people have partnered to help get rid of these old depreciated browsers with sites like ie6countdown.com. IE6 users worldwide are sitting at 11.4% for the month of April, with 5.9% of that number coming from China. I think Microsoft needs to devote some advertising and time in China if they want to reduce these numbers anymore.
